I wrote my first ‘Letter from the Publisher’
99 issues ago when working at The Golden
Fleece on Phillips Avenue and moonlighting
on Knitter’sMagazine (see ‘3 friends, 1 pizza, 9
little words,’page 20).

Those heady days of youthful energy and
dreams—”How hard can it be? Let’s publish
a magazine!”—came alive recently as Phillips
Avenue became memory lane as well as
Knitter’s 100 outdoor studio.

Deciding to shoot the magazine where it
all began—beautifuldowntown Sioux Falls—
means flying in models from photo shootparadise, Miami Beach. And here we are with
someone you mightrecognize: Lydia poses
on the banks of the Big Sioux River (seephoto, left).

Choice, our cover model (and Lydia’s good
friend from Miami Beach) was already in
South Dakota. Her family lives just outside of
town. What are the chances?

We also need a guy model. Our friend
Terri Carlson mentions that her son Corey is
coming to town—and don’t we think he is
model material? Of course he is. He’s smiling
with his mom (bottom, opposite page)
and posing on his bike—he’s a racer—on
page 105.

Terri isn’t the only one who brings along
her son. So does stylist Lisa Mannes, whose
son Spencer joins my assistants Jason
and Andrew Reinartz. Lisa times stoplights
as we shoot: “It’s yellow; start shooting! Go,
go, go!” she shouts, making sure there are no
cars in our shot at the busy 11th and Phillips
intersection. Oops, there goes the trolley
(above left).

Phillips Avenue with its colorful specialty
shops, outdoor restaurants, and Sculpture
Walk is a wonderful location, and we’re
taking over 50 shots: “We thought of many
ways of celebrating our 100th Issue,” says
Knitter’s Editor Rick Mondragon. “It was
tempting to think of 100 designs, but that
would have meant a quadruple issue. So
we settled for a double issue with over 230
pages and about 50 patterns.”

Since my other outdoor studio—the
Falls of the Big Sioux River—is underwater
because of flooding, we knock on the Bauers’
door. Their stucco home, with its arched
front door and French shutters on quiet, leafy
25th Street, is just the right backdrop for our
‘Woodsy’ collection. Elisabeth Bauer and her
two children (see opposite page, bottom
right) welcome us.

Just a block from our Pink House (see
group shot, opposite page) Maggie and
Lou Barnett open wide the doors to their
Victorian home (opposite page, top).
And across the street from the Pink House,
Mary and Jim are giving their painted lady a
new coat (opposite page,bottom). So Kassidy,
our youngest model (that’s her and dad Roger
Kasa, opposite page, top) gets her close-up on
our porch instead of the Glenskis’.

At lunch at Casa del Rey—whose multicolored
façade we also used as a backdrop
(see opposite page)—Book Editor Elaine
Rowley looks back.

“We’re now in the big-numbers-stage of
life and publication,” Elaine says, “and after
all these years, my love is still the process
of knitting. My hope is that knitters will
understand, enjoy, and be free to build on
that process. The sweater is important, but
the process is where we want to go.

“We look back with some satisfaction and
some pride. In our closets are garments knit
from those early issues that are still viable,
that we can wear. And, in these changeable
times, it’s remarkable that some of the
wonderful people we worked with so long
ago have designs in this issue. A lot of the
yarn companies are here too, and some of
the same yarns.

“You’ll also find what we love most: to empower
knitters by allowing them to see the possibilities. It’s
always been our goal to have a little fun presenting
the best magazine we can and send it out into the
world feeling that everybody has a fighting chance
to knit something they’re going to be proud of.
And that, a year or two from now, they’ll be more
confident knitters than they are today.

“To not be afraid of their knitting. To love it. Enjoy
it. Not have it be something that frustrates them,
but something that they have as much sense of
accomplishment in as we do in gettingKnitter’s
out the door 100 times. So on their 100th sweater,
they’re still knitting, and like us, they can’t wait for
the next one.”

And this Issue is not just going out the door, but
also onto theWorld Wide Web. “We’re delighted that
the digital version of Knitter’s is debuting with K100,”
says XRX, Inc. CEO BenjaminLevisay. “It’s wonderful
that we are able, after 26 years of publication, to offer
our digital collector’s double-issue for free.It’s our
thanks to everyone in the Knitting Universe who has
supported us.”

Now knitters outside the U.S.—including my sister
Anna in Sydney, Australia—won’t have to wait so
long for their magazine to reach them. You can find
out more about Knitter’s digital edition on page 231.
When I wrote my first publisher’s letter, Benjamin
was a little boy weaving on a rigid-heddle loom at
The Golden Fleece (see page 20). Who could have
guessed that he’d grow up to so ably follow in our
footsteps, or that I would have the pleasure to do
what I love 100 times?

It’s been a wonderful journey, made richer by the
extraordinary people of the Knitting Universe like
former Editor Nancy Thomas, Knitter’s Editor Rick
Mondragon, our supportive advertisers, our talented
designers, and wonderful staff.

It’s been a priviledge shooting and writing for
Knitter’s and our truly great readers. Thank you.